Abstract: Young, Stephen M The recent Native Title Amendment (Indigenous Land Use Agreements) Act 2017 ('the Amendment Act 2017') amended the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) ('NTA') to rectify a perceived problem generated by the decision in McGlade v Native Title Registrar and Ors ('McGlade'). This article argues that the Amendment Act 2017 was partially justified on human rights grounds, which reveals, perhaps, that human rights are becoming consistent with a legal form of colonial dispossession. It begins with a short history of the NTA and the creation of Indigenous Land Use Agreements ('ILUAs') in 1998, which were roundly criticised at that time for non-compliance with international human rights. It then discusses the case law leading to the Amendment Act 2017, how it adopts a standard for ILUA registration that is weaker than the standard created in 1998, and how it was justified. In the final section, it argues that the Amendment Act 2017 fits a legalised form of colonial dispossession, as established by international legal recognition of 'the right of native tribes to dispose freely of themselves and of their hereditary title'. The article ends by arguing that claims that the Amendment Act 2017 complies with international human rights law should either be highly scrutinised or suggests that international human rights law is becoming consistent with forms of colonialism.

Abstract: Subramaniam, Yogeswaran Malaysia's three Indigenous minority groups, namely, the natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia enjoy express yet distinct levels of constitutional recognition and privileges, partly due to their different political and legal histories arising from their respective interaction with outsiders. Notwithstanding these differences, the past two decades have seen the Malaysian courts develop their own brand of common law jurisprudence recognising the continued enforceability of the pre-existing rights of Indigenous people relating to lands and resources, founded upon common law jurisprudence on the subject, including the landmark Commonwealth decisions in Mabo v Queensland [No 2] ('Mabo') and Calder v AG ('Calder'). Subject to extinguishment by plain and obvious legislative words, these rights exist independent of legislation while their nature depends on the practices and usages of the particular Indigenous community.

Abstract: Grunfeld, Jeremy The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (the 'Act') legislates to protect members of minority groups from the physical and psychological harms that can stem from acts of racial intolerance. It seeks to eventually eliminate racial and other forms of discrimination from Australian society. Inquiries have continually indicated that an atmosphere where low-level, subtle or 'casual' racist behaviour is accepted creates a breeding ground 'for more serious acts of harassment, intimidation or violence'. However, whilst seeking to deter racist behaviour, the Act must also operate to ensure that free speech is adequately protected as this is a fundamental human right under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Australia is a signatory to. The existence of these two potentially conflicting aims means that the Act must be carefully framed so that it provides an appropriate mechanism to deter and remedy instances of racial hatred without going so far as to undermine or place undue limitations on free speech. In this article, I critique how well the Act currently balances these aims with specific reference to section 18C (the 'Vilification Prohibition'). By critically examining several Australian court decisions I argue that the Vilification Prohibition adequately protects free speech in its current form.

Abstract: Nash, Daphne; Memmott, Paul; Moran, Mark For more than a decade, Australia has followed other Western democratic states towards heightened conditionality in the provision of welfare payments and other benefits to its most disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens. This agenda is based on the view that individual recipients need to take greater responsibility for their circumstances and that they are not entitled to state resources without adherence to certain rules that usually require significant changes in their behaviour. Increased conditionality for social housing and other welfare payments has raised questions about whether, in fact, this policy framework amounts to an erosion of people's rights. It can be argued that Indigenous people's rights were already compromised by the forces of colonialism, structural inequality and associated difficulties faced by them as one of the neediest sections of the community.

Abstract: Titterton, Adelaide How do Australian family law courts1 engage with the unique needs of Indigenous women in the areas of safety, risk and culture' Indigenous women often manage conflicting priorities within family and community contexts. Are the unique experiences and needs of Indigenous women acknowledged by family law courts, and are family law courts physically and culturally safe places for Indigenous women'

Abstract: Walsh, Jenna Throughout public spaces across Canada, red dresses have been hung devoid of embodiment: the haunting vacancy serving to 'evoke a presence through the marking of an absence'. The REDress project's creator, Jaime Black, has deemed her work an aesthetic response to current socio-political frameworks that normalise gendered and racialised violence against Aboriginal women across Canada. Her objective is to facilitate discussion surrounding the thousands of Indigenous women that have been missing or murdered in the last four decades, while providing a visual reminder of the lives that have been lost. Black's efforts are one of the many grassroots initiatives that have prompted collective calls for a federal response to the crisis. These calls have, at last, been answered. In September 2016, the Government of Canada launched a two-year Independent National Inquiry into the missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls across the country, directing the Commissioners to propose concrete actions to counteract systemic causes of violence against Aboriginal women. Since its commencement, however, the Inquiry has been plagued by criticism, including the charge that community hearings have adopted an Anglo-legalist structure which has undermined attempts to prioritise Indigenous protocols.

This article will provide an overview of the context surrounding the national crisis, as well as outline the bottom-up initiatives which have provoked a political response. In addition, it will offer insight into the current state of the Inquiry, including the critiques that have arisen from within Indigenous communities in response to its perceived structural and administrative shortcomings.